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BITS & PIECES

A new twist in our continuing story

Emory SchleyColumnists

Published: Monday, February 4, 2013 at 10:59 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, February 4, 2013 at 10:59 p.m.

I continue to be amazed at the entries I’m getting for our continuing story. This week I received entries from Silver Springs Shores, Oak Run, Stone Creek, Ocala, Fort McCoy, Belleview and a few places unknown.

The author of the next segment is: (tah-dah!) Mollie Richards, who wrote:

“Oh my gosh,” she thought. “They have a baby. I can’t just leave them here.”

Molly put the gear shift in reverse and slowly started to back up. Then she heard the loud wail of a siren. As she braked again and looked toward the street, headlights were turning into the parking lot, blue lights flashing on the cruiser.

The siren wound down and the patrol car stopped directly in front of her.

Stunned, she watched the uniformed officer exit the car with gun drawn.

Molly looked into her rearview mirror toward the Dumpster. There was no one there.

YOUR TURN AGAIN!: Add 100 words or fewer to the story as it has unfolded so far. You can see all the installments from the beginning by going to ocala.com and typing “ongoing tale” into the search box.

Their combined writing talents are so good it’s causing me a headache in trying to choose a winning entry. They are not making it easy on me, but I’ve always been a glutton for punishment, so send the next round of entries to me by 6 p.m. Thursday. That gives you the rest of today, all day tomorrow and most of the following day to come up with 100 words or fewer as we continue to shape our little drama.

Send entries to me at the email address at the bottom of this column and put “STORY” in the subject line so I’ll be able to filter entries from all the other stuff I get.

WHERE IS IT?: In last Thursday’s edition, we ran a new feature that will appear in the last column of each month, where readers are asked to identify where a photo was taken. The first valid, correct entry received at slyguy73@gmail.com is declared the winner. Last week’s winner is Jessica Wilkes, of Ocala, who should be receiving her prize in this week’s mail.

What’s the prize? A coffee cup … but not just an ordinary coffee cup. It is one of those dark blue, shiny Star-Banner mugs like the one I use each morning to hold my steaming coffee while I’m reading the paper and complaining about the world we live in.

What will next month’s prize be? I don’t have a clue, but it’ll be something reasonably nice, but less than $10 in value. The real value comes in the bragging rights that come with it.

Congratulations, Jessica!

So, you may be asking yourself, just where was this photo taken that ran in Thursday’s edition?

Several readers thought it was taken at Paddock Mall, the McPherson Complex, Silver Springs or Silver River State Park, and one even said Alexander Springs.

It was taken in the long-abandoned zoo area in the back of Rainbow Springs State Park in Dunnellon, almost all the way back to the butterfly garden. The circular enclosure was used to house animals that couldn’t climb walls too readily, don’tcha know!